Animorphs The Strangers
by Codename Dutchess
Summary: Based on Book 4, where Ax is first introduced. Cassie and Tobias are having strange dreams. The Animorphs think that there might be another Andalite on Earth, but they are not the only ones searching for him. The Yeerks are hot on their trail, but there is another who is closer. He is a young genius unlike anything the Animorphs have faced, and that is saying something.
1. Chapter 1

M y name is Cassie.

I can't tell you my last name. I wish I could. But I can't even tell you what town I live in or what state. We have to disguise our identities, we Animorphs. It's not about being shy. It's about staying alive.

If the Yeerks ever learn who we are, we'll be done for. If they don't kill us outright, they'll make us Controllers. They'll force a Yeerk slug into our brains, where it will take control of us, making us slaves - tools of the Yeerk invasion of Earth.

And I really don't like the idea of being under the control of an alien. I don't like the idea of being dead, either.

On the other hand, there are some things I do like about being an Animorph. Some very cool things.

Take the other night. It was late. I should have been in bed. Instead I was in the barn, get ting ready to turn into a squirrel.

Technically, the barn is really the Wildlife Re habilitation Clinic. My dad is a vet. So is my mom, but she works at The Gardens, this big zoo. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic is just my dad and me. We take in injured birds and animals and try to save them, and then release them back into their natural habitats.

That's where I was. In the barn. Surrounded by dozens of cages full of birds, from a mourning dove that'd run into a car windshield to a golden eagle that'd almost been electrocuted by a power line.

In another part of the barn we have bigger cages for the badgers and opossums and skunks and deer and even a pair of wolves who'd been poisoned. At the other end (far from the wolves) we keep our own horses.

There's an operating room and a couple of small recovery rooms, too. That was a new thing. My mom and dad recently got a big donation from a rich family in Ireland. They were finally able to refurbish the antelope exhibit in our family theme park, The Gardens, and we still had plenty to spare for new medical equipment. I just felt dirty accepting money from the Fowls.

Back to that night. Have you ever watched a squirrel in the park? They are constantly alert. Constantly looking around. It's like every minute of every day they're thinking, "Hey! What's that?"

So I knew that if I morphed into a squirrel, all that nervousness and fear would become a part of me. It's something we've all had to deal with: controlling the animal instincts, the animal mind that comes along with the animal body.

Anyway, that's where I was, in a gloomy barn with just the yellow overhead bulbs to light the room. Why was I there? Because someone, or something, had been sneaking in and getting at the birds. We'd lost a patient just the night before. A duck.

I couldn't sleep, anyway. I kept having these dreams. Only they weren't like normal dreams, somehow. More like ... I don't know. Just really strange, that's all.

"Relax, Magilla," I whispered to the squirrel in my hands. "This won't hurt at all." I pulled some chestnuts from my pocket and handed him one. Another nut fell to the floor.

Some morphs are easy. Some are terrifying. When I was a horse that was cool. When I had to become a trout, well, that was a little weirder. The whole time I just kept thinking how someone could fry me and serve me with tartar sauce.

And I don't like tartar sauce.

"Squirrel," I told myself. I always try to get into the feeling of what it might be like to be the animal before I even start morphing.

The first physical change was in my size. I started shrinking. It's a very bizarre feeling. See, you feel like you're standing totally still, but the ground keeps coming up toward you. And the ceiling is moving away. Door handles aren't where they should be anymore. All of a sudden they're over your head.

I had shrunk to maybe two, two-and-a-half feet tall when my arms came sucking back into my body. Right about that point, the real Magilla tore out of there. He ran back to his cage, got in, and - I swear this is true - closed the door. Anyway, I still had normal (although short) legs, but my arms were stunted. I still had the normal number of fingers, but they were teeny tiny now, way too small for my body.

My ears traveled up the side of my head to rest on top. Soft gray fur spread across my body in a wave. My face puffed out and grew pointed.

Then, the wildest thing! My tail sprouted out of my body! And what was cool was that I wasn't a squirrel yet. I was still about half human, the size of a small child, and my tail just shot out, about two feet long! Much longer and bigger than it would be once I was totally squirrelified.

I tilted my head back and I could see this bushy gray tail arched up over me. Way cool. My legs sucked in and I was down on the ground, down on the cement floor of the barn.

I suddenly discovered I hadn't swept and mopped as well as I thought I had. Amazing what you can see when your face is just an inch from the floor.

Then the squirrel brain kicked in.

WHOA! YOW!

Man, did I have energy!

It was like I was plugged into a million volts. I was supercharged! My slow, sluggish human brain was just blown away by the sudden explosion of energy.

A noise! What's that? I cocked my ears. I swung my head, focusing my big eyes. A bird in a cage!

A new sound! What was it? I spun around. No, wait! What was that? And that? And what was the other sound? PREDATORS! They were everywhere! I was surrounded! PREDATORS!


	2. Chapter 2

Predators! Run Run Run Run!

No, wait. There's a nut somewhere. Ooh, a nut. Nice juicy nut.

Predators! Run now!

I hurried across the floor of hay, looking around and sniffing the air as I went, ever vigilant for a coyote or a falcon.

There are predators all around you! Get out of there!

RUN! RUN! RUN!

But what about the nut? You could get the nut and still run. Maybe even eat the nut. Ooh, I would love that. I hopped over to the nut and examined it, picking it up and sniffing it. Oh yes, it was a walnut! Ha ha! There can be no greater pleasure! I had a nut and it was mine! Yes! Victory! I started to chew a hole in the nut.

What was that noise?

Predators! Get out of there!

Don't drop the nut! Take it with you! You can eat when we're safe!

I stuffed the nut in my jaw and ran at top speed toward a very imposing wall.

Huge though it was, I ran up the wall with little effort. It was second nature to the squirrel.

Unfortunately for the panicky creature I became, Tobias picked this moment to fly through the hayloft into the barn. He was probably looking for a little midnight snack.

That was human Cassie thinking, and I was still very much squirrel Cassie at this point. All squirrel Cassie thought at the sight of Tobias was, "OH MY GOD A RED-TAILED HAWK RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!"

My squirrel eyes could see the outline of the hawk against the starry sky. They could see his hooked beak designed for ripping and tearing, they could see his talons made of what looked like steel at that point.

I guess I was grateful that squirrel Cassie was still in charge at that point, because human Cassie had no clue what to do.

ZOOOM!

Before I even registered that I moved, I shot up half the wall. My little claws clamped on to the wood, too small to be injured by splinters. It was almost exhilarating to move that fast. If you've ever been a squirrel- and let's face it, you haven't- you would know that those little guys move like nobody's business. But, throughout all of it, I always knew which direction was up, and which was down. It was like running on the floor, but if you let go you would fall down on the wall.

Very strange, to be sure.

Tobias had landed on a high rafter. But his gaze still pierced me like one of his talons. I kept completely still. Not even my tail twitched.

But a squirrel can't sit still. Not for long. I was bursting with energy, screaming to move.

Eventually, I gave in. I launched myself into the air behind me and flew for what seemed like minutes, but was only a couple seconds. I flew ten feet, which is impressive, seeing the size of a squirrel.

SLAM! I landed on the wooden beam that runs above the horse stalls.

Bad choice. Tobias saw me, and now he was heading in for the kill. He opened his wings, swooped forward and bared his talons.

Suddenly, there was a new movement. Something pushed out its head through a gap in the boards at the bottom of the barn. An intelligent looking face poked out at me. It sized me up, thinking of whether or not I would be dinner.

So! A fox was my mystery bird-killer.

I knew if I didn't get control of the squirrel's instincts soon, I might actually end up as fox food. It always takes a minute, but in this situation I had seconds.

Tobias swooped.

Suddenly, chaos reigned supreme. At the sight of Tobias, the animals all screamed in their loudest calls. The wolves began to howl, the horses started to neigh and the birds in every cage squawked and screeched.

Tobias startled and sheered away.

It was too late. I jumped for a second time and fell towards the hay and, regrettably, the fox.

As soon as I hit the ground, I was off like a bullet, leaving a cloud of dust and hay in my wake.

Unfortunately for me, the fox was fast as well. I was in full control at this point, but that was hardly any help.

/Tobias! Help me!\\ I yelled in thought speech.

/What the… Is that you down there Cassie?\\

I dodged left. The fox matched my movement and he was gaining.

Foxes are faster than squirrels, and nearly as agile. I was very aware of this when trying to run away from one, and I was on the edge of panic.

/Yes, it's me!\\

/Why didn't you tell me earlier?\\ He snapped, sounding grumpy in my head. /I was just about to make you a meal!\\

/It's my first time in this morph, I just got control of the brain. Now will you please help me?!\\

The fox snapped at my tail. If he were a centimeter closer, it would have been over.

/Good grief,\\ said Tobias. He opened his wings and dived at the fox.

The fox saw him, but by the time you see a hawk, it's normally too late. This time was no exception.

Tobias raked him with his talons and flew up, preparing for another run, if he needed to.

He didn't need to, though, because the fox decided that this little squirrel wasn't worth the effort. He scampered back to his hidden passageway.

Tobias landed on a crossbeam and gazed at me with his piercing hawk eyes. /So, Cassie. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night turning into a squirrel?\\

I was already morphing back to my human shape, but I couldn't speak yet, so I used thought speech instead. /We've had some birds taken, and we couldn't figure out who was doing it. We figured it was some kind of predator, so I decided to wait here in the best disguise imaginable to catch him in the act. Seems like it worked.\\

/Well, if it's helping a fellow bird, then I certainly won't complain,\\ He fluffed his wings and started to preen.

I was halfway human already, because I felt my legs sprouting up beneath me, but my voice was not quite there, so I continued in thought speech. /So what were you doing out here Tobias? Looking for a squirrel sandwich?\\

Tobias had turned into a red-tailed hawk permanently. The same gift that allowed me to turn into a squirrel and back again also carried a terrible curse. If you stay an animal for more than two hours, then you become that animal forever. Tobias was a constant reminder of the dangers we faced just by morphing, let alone fighting the Yeerks. He's dealt with his fate really well, and just started hunting and eating like a hawk. I thought if I joked with him about it, he wouldn't think I was grossed out about it or anything like that.

/Squirrel sandwich?\\ He said. /No, I was craving a squirrel ribeye with mashed giblets. Sorry I scared you.\\

"It's ok, my friend," I said in my own voice. I was almost completely normal, except for the huge tail poking out of my back.

Normal, for me, is about average height, I guess. I don't really pay attention to what average is. I have a decent build, not skinny and not fat, with short hair, because I don't like to mess with it much. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I don't buy into the fashion scene. I prefer not to walk the runway. I would much rather be the girl in the overalls and leather work gloves trying intensely to shove a pill down the throat of an angry badger. That's not exaggeration, by the way. Jake has a picture of me doing exactly that. He keeps it by his computer. I don't know why. I would be glad to give Jake a picture of me in a dress where I actually look pretty. Rachel could loan me a dress. But Jake says he likes that picture better.

/I hear something,\\ Tobias said, his head swiveling toward the noise that I couldn't hear.

Human ears are some of the worst in the animal kingdom. I strained my ears, and eventually I heard it too. It was a voice.

"Is someone in there?"

"My father!"

/You still have a tail!\\

The barn door swung open, and if the flashlight had been on me, my dad would have had a full view of my rapidly shrinking tail. I turned to face him, hiding my tail.

"Cass? What are you doing out here?"

I stuck my hands behind my back to help squash down my tail. "N-n-nothing Dad, I-I-I just couldn't sleep."

He nodded blearily. "Okay. Well, go to bed now. We have a big day tomorrow," he said crankily. My dad is the type of person who needs about three cups of coffee in the morning to wake up.

"Okay, Daddy," I said.

He turned around, stopped, then turned to face me. "Cassie? Turn around."

"Turn around?" I repeated, reminding me of the squirrel again.

"Yeah. Turn around, I thought I saw… just turn around."

I turned as slowly as I could. I felt the last of the tail slip into my spine as I did, so that when I finished, my father looked oddly relieved.

"Man, I gotta get back to bed," My dad said. "I thought you had a tail for a second there."

"Heh heh," I laughed weakly.

When he left, I collapsed back onto the straw.

During our conversation, Tobias had to act like a normal bird, so he had plenty of time to look around. /Wow, a lot of this stuff looks pretty new. How did your parents buy all this?\\

I looked around and sighed. "It's all because of this huge donation that The Gardens and the barn got. It seems that Artemis Fowl Jr. has some guilt over selling the lemurs to extinction."

If a bird could make a choking sound, then Tobias just did. /Seriously?\\ he asked. /All the lemurs? That guy must be evil.\\

"No, not all of them, only one of the most endangered species. I really don't like him, and he wants to meet my mom and dad and me tomorrow. I don't know why me. I guess rich people are just used to getting whatever they want," I noticed my acidic tone, and tried to play it off, but Tobias noticed it for sure. I took a deep breath and sat up. "I really should have just stayed in bed. Dreams or no dreams."

Tobias snapped his head around and glared at me. /Dreams? What kind of dreams?\\

I shrugged. "I don't know. They always have to do with the sea."

/The sea,\\ he echoed. /And a voice calling for help from beneath the water.\\

It was warm enough in the barn, but I was suddenly very cold.


	3. Chapter 3

No, I haven't had any weird dreams about the sea," Marco said. "I've had weird dreams about my sheets trying to strangle me. I've had weird dreams about falling from way up high and when I finally land I'm in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood talking to King Friday. I've had weird dreams about that woman on Baywatch . . . hmm, well, that does kind of involve the ocean, I guess."

"You have dreams about King Friday?" Rachel asked him. She put on a worried look. "I see." She shook her head slowly and made a tsk, tsk sound.

"What? What's the matter with dreaming about King Friday?" Marco demanded.

Rachel shrugged. "All I'm going to say is you should think about seeing a counselor before your condition worsens." Rachel turned so Marco couldn't see her and gave me a wink.

"Very funny," Marco sneered. But he still looked a little worried.

We were in Rachel's room the next day, after school. Her room is so neat. Straight out of a magazine, you know? Everything matches or goes together. She has this bulletin board where she puts little wise sayings on Post-it notes.

I drifted over to the bulletin board and read '"Don't think there are no crocodiles just be cause the water is calm.' - Malayan Proverb."

Just beside that was '"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.' - Sun Tzu."

It made me a little sad. In the good old days, Rachel would have had a bunch of quotes about being a good person or whatever. It just showed how much our lives had changed.

In a very short time we had all grown accustomed to a world of fear and danger. We had arrived at Rachel's house separately. We had each checked to make sure we weren't being followed. We had planned the afternoon in advance to be sure that Rachel's mom and her two sisters would be out. We had even had Tobias fly over the area looking for anything unusual.

That's what our lives had become. That and quotations full of paranoia and battle.

Jake hadn't said anything yet. Tobias and I had both told everyone about our strangely identical dreams; about the voice that seemed to come from beneath the sea. The strange voice that called to us.

No one else had heard the voice in their dreams. Marco had made jokes. Rachel had been supportive but skeptical. Only Jake had remained silent.

I suppose you could say Jake is sort of our "leader," although he's not bossy in any way. It's more like this natural aspect of his personality. He's the one you just automatically look to when there's trouble.

Of course, I look to him for other reasons. Not that I would ever tell him or anything, but I really like Jake. You know, as in like.

He's very cute, in a big, strong kind of way. He has brown hair and dark, dark eyes. He seems very serious until you get to know him. And then you realize he's still pretty serious, but he also knows when to laugh.

Jake has to know when to laugh because Marco has been his best friend since they were both in diapers. They've competed and fought and disagreed the whole time. Marco's mission in life is to find the humor in everything. Even in his best friend.

Marco is kind of cute, too, although he's not my type. He wears his brown hair long and has these amazing eyelashes that I would love to have myself.

Marco isn't interested in being in charge, or even in being part of a team. He wants us to just quit the whole thing. He wants us to forget the Yeerks and forget morphing and just try and stay alive.

But at the same time, it's Marco who is very aware of all the security problems. He's the one who makes sure we never discuss anything on the phone, where enemy ears might be listening in.

Rachel is my closest friend. She has been for years. How can I explain Rachel? First of all, she and Jake are cousins, and they have a lot in common. They seem to grow strong people in that family, because Rachel is the strongest person I know. It's like nothing ever intimidates her. She's totally fearless, or at least that's how she seems.

To look at her you'd think, Oh, she'll grow up to be some airheaded model, because she's very tall and pretty and blond. But I pity anyone who mistakes Rachel for a wimpy airhead.

Sometimes I think Rachel likes the way everything has worked out. It's like all along there was this Amazon warrior locked up inside of her, and now she has an excuse to bring it out.

But she was not a person who believed in dreams very much. "Well, okay," she said, "if we're done with the dreams, let's - "

"Rachel," Jake interrupted, "I think I have something that may be interesting." He pulled a videocassette out of his bag.

"Cool. Let's watch a movie," Marco said.

"Not a movie," Jake said. "I guess no one else watched the late news last night?"

"I was busy watching my taped reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," Marco said, giving Rachel a sly look. "Last night it was the one where it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood."

Jake rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, the way he'd done a million times before when Marco said something irrelevant or annoying. "Rachel, can we go downstairs and use your VCR?"

"Sure," Rachel said. We trooped down the stairs. Except for Tobias, who fluttered down above our heads.

"Hey, Tobias," Marco said, "I've been meaning to ask you, are hawks like seagulls? I mean, do they poop while they're flying?"

/Depends on who's down below,/ Tobias shot back. /Let me just put it this way - if you get on my nerves, you'd better buy a hat./

Down in Rachel's living room, Jake turned on the TV and popped in his cassette.

"There was just this one small story," he narrated, as, on the screen, an old guy in a bathing suit held up a piece of what looked like metal.

"So now we're interested in hairy old guys who should be wearing shirts?" Marco asked.

"This old guy says he found that on the beach. It washed up during the storm a couple of days ago. Watch."

The camera focused on what looked like a jagged piece of metal, about two feet long and one foot wide. As the camera zoomed in, I saw what looked like letters. Only they weren't any alphabet I had ever seen.

Now the tape was showing the anchorwoman smiling, and then it went blank. Jake turned the VCR off.

"Okay . . . so?" Marco prodded.

Jake sighed. "So the night the Andalite landed, when I went inside his ship to get the cube that gave us our morphing powers, I saw writing."

I felt a chill creep up the back of my neck.

"I could be wrong, I mean, I'm not some expert," Jake said. "But I think it was that same alphabet. Those same kinds of letters."

Suddenly no one was laughing. Not even Marco. "I think what washed up on the beach is a piece of an Andalite ship," Jake said.

Suddenly, without warning, I felt the ground swirl beneath me. I fell straight back, not even caring that Jake caught me in his arms just before I hit the carpet.

I was falling, falling, falling. Falling into the sea.

Splash! I hit the water. But still I fell. Down and down and down through blue-green, sunlit layers of water.

/I 'm here,/ a voice called to me. /l am here. I cannot survive much longer. If you hear me ... come. If you hear me ... come./

Suddenly I opened my eyes. I stared up at Jake's concerned face.

Glancing across the room, I saw Rachel with the telephone to her ear, preparing to dial.

"She's awake!" Jake said.

"I'd better still call an ambulance," Rachel said.

"No!" Marco snapped, "Not unless we know she's hurt. It's too big a risk."

Rachel's eyes flared the way they do when someone tells her something she doesn't want to hear. "I'm calling nine-one-one," she said tersely.

"No, Rachel, I'm okay," I said. I sat up. My head felt a little woozy, but I was all right. Rachel hesitated, her fingers just above the keypad. "What about Tobias?"

I looked around the room and saw Tobias spread out on the floor, one wing crumpled beneath him.

He looked dead.

I jumped up and ran to him.

"Rachel, Cassie seems okay, and nine-one-one can't help Tobias," Jake said.

Rachel replaced the receiver and ran over to Tobias.

"He's not dead," I said. I could feel him breathing. Then, just as suddenly as I had, he woke up. His enormous brown hawk's eyes opened, instantly fierce.

His first reaction was pure hawk. He hopped up and flared. Hawks flare just the way cats do when they're trying to intimidate someone. They hunch their shoulders and fluff up their feathers to make themselves look bigger than they are.

"Everybody stand still," I said quickly. "It's okay, Tobias, you were just out for a minute there."

He quickly gained control over the hawk instincts. /That was strange,/ he said.

"It happened to me, too," I said. "I passed out. And then I had the dream again. Only this time I could hear an actual voice. Or at least I heard thought-speech."

/Me, too,/ Tobias confirmed.

"Okay, now this is getting weird," Rachel said. "Because at the same time I thought I kind of felt something."

"Yeah," Jake agreed. Marco nodded.

/l know this sounds crazy, but ... but it's like someone is sending out a distress signal. Like they are calling for help./

"Only this someone is in the water, or under the water, or something," I said. "Seeing that video, seeing that writing, it was like suddenly the message grew stronger."

"Or it may have just been a coincidence," Jake said. "This isn't a dream. I don't know what it is, but it isn't a dream. Even I halfway saw something. This is some kind of a communication. "

"Well, this is all very interesting," Marco said, "but so what? I mean, are we getting some kind of psychic message from the Little Mermaid? What are we supposed to do about it?"

Jake looked closely at me. "Cassie? Was the voice in your dream a human voice?"

I was startled by the question. I hadn't really thought about it. I actually laughed. "When you asked me, the first thing that popped into my head was no, it isn't human." I laughed again. "But that doesn't make any sense."

/It's not human,/ Tobias said suddenly. /l understand the meaning of what it's saying, but it's not human. It's not 'speaking' in words, really./

"So what is it?" Rachel asked. "Yeerk?"

I let my mind drift back to the dream. I tried to hear the sound in my head again. "No, not Yeerk. It reminds me of something ... of some one."

/The Andalite,/ Tobias blurted.

I snapped my fingers. "Yes! That's it! It re minds me of the Andalite. When he first thought- spoke to us. That's what it's like."

"The Andalite," Marco muttered. He looked away. I knew he was remembering. We all were.

We had been walking home from the mall at night. Walking through a big abandoned construction site, when the Andalite ship had appeared above us.

It landed, and out came the Andalite prince, fatally wounded in a battle with the Yeerks somewhere in space.

He was the one who had warned us of the Yeerks - the parasite species that inhabited the brains of other creatures and enslaved them, making them Controllers. It was the Andalite who had warned us, and who, in desperation, had given us the great and terrible weapon - the power to

morph.

We had been hiding, cringing in terror, when the Yeerks caught up with the Andalite. When Visser Three himself, the Yeerk leader, had murdered him.

I shuddered at the terrible memory of the Andalite's last, despairing cry.

"Yes," I whispered. "Tobias is right. It's an Andalite. That's who is calling to us from the sea. An Andalite."

For a few minutes no one said anything.

Then Rachel said, "He died trying to save us." She looked defiantly at Marco. "I know that doesn't mean anything to you. But the Andalite died trying to save Earth."

Marco nodded. "I know. And you're wrong, Rachel. That means plenty to me."

"Yeah? Well, if there's some Andalite calling for help, I'm going to try and help him," Rachel said.

I looked over at Jake and we shared this look, like "Oh, big surprise, Rachel is ready to go." I hid my smile and Jake kept a straight face.

"Tobias?" Jake asked. "What do you say?"

/l don't know if I should have a vote. I'm the one person here who isn't going to be much help dealing with water. Besides, you guys all know how I'd vote./

Of all of us, it was Tobias who had stayed longest at the Andalite's side, even as the Andalite ordered him to get to safety. Something really deep had gone on between the Andalite prince and Tobias.

It was my turn. "I can't just ignore someone crying out for help, if that's what this is."

We all looked at Marco. I could see Rachel getting angry, like she was ready to jump all over Marco if, as usual, he disagreed.

Marco just grinned. "I really hate to do this. I really hate to disappoint you all." Then he grew serious. "But I was there at the construction site, same as all of you. I was there when Visser Three - " Suddenly his voice choked. "What I mean is, if there's an Andalite who needs any thing, I'm there."

Rachel's expression softened. Seeing Marco choke up like that put what we were doing into perspective. It was a very quiet moment between the five of us, which is why everyone jumped about a mile when the phone rang.

Rachel recovered the quickest, jumping up and saying, "I'll get it," while the rest of us giggled nervously.

"Hello?" said Rachel. "Oh hi, Mr. Johnson." It was my dad on the phone. Everyone turned to me with a questioning look on his or her face. I didn't know why he called either, so I just shrugged.

"Uh-huh. Oh yeah, sure, here she is." Rachel handed the phone to me, saying, a bit unnecessarily, "It's your dad."

I took the phone from her outstretched hand. "Hello?" I said.

"Hey Cassie!" said my dad, very enthusiastically. "How would you like to bring your friends on a private tour of The Gardens on Thursday?" The Gardens is an amusement park/zoo that my parents both run. Think Six Flags Animal Kingdom, but with actual exhibits and one or two less rides.

"That sounds awesome, Dad!" I said. "Why do you sound so excited?"

"Because I just got a call from the Fowl guy. He said he's going to be a few days late, but to make up for it, he's doubling the donation!"

Now I understood why Dad was over the moon right now. Artemis Fowl's donation to The Gardens would be enough to renovate the entire park, but with the money doubled, we could add another few exhibits at least. My head was still swimming with possibilities when I remembered that I could bring friends.

"Did he say who I could bring?" I asked.

"I think his exact words were, 'Three should do it.'" Dad replied. "Isn't this great Cassie? We'll have enough to add an exhibit or three to the park and maybe an extra ride!"

"It really is, Dad." I said. "I assume we're celebrating tonight." I asked, imagining what feast my mom was planning.

"You would assume correctly, pumpkin," said Dad playfully. "I'm looking forward to seeing Jake on Thursday."

"Dad, stop it," I protested, subconsciously shooting a glance at Jake as my face went redder than a tomato.

"He's there at Rachel's too, isn't he?" Dad joked. "Tell him you love him for me."

If it was possible for my face to get redder than it was at that moment, I don't know how. "Dad!" I shouted, thoroughly embarrassed. I looked over at Jake, who was grinning ear to ear, just like Marco. Rachel's smile was more subdued, but she couldn't hide it either. The only one not smiling was Tobias, but then again, hawks never smiled.

Dad just laughed. "Okay sweetheart. I'm going to let you go. Be back in time for dinner! Your mother is making her world-famous pot roast."

Thankful we got off the subject, I said, "Alright I will, bye!" and hung up the phone. I looked back at Jake and he was still grinning.

"Parents, huh? They can even embarrass you when they're not here," He joked.

I told everyone the news, and they were just as excited as I was about it. Rachel asked, "He wanted us there? Why would he want us there?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. His exact words according to my dad were, 'Three should do it.' Weird, right?"

Upon hearing this, Marco frowned. "Well," he said. "That's awfully convenient. The five of us get to go to The Gardens for free and look at the animals while we're all alone. This Fowl guy even seemed to know one of us can't morph anymore."

We all looked at Marco. Jake was the first to speak. "Marco, I don't think tha-"

"And why not?" Marco interrupted. "You heard what he said. 'Three should do it.' That means you, Cassie, Rachel, and me. Tobias can fly, so he doesn't need an invitation. Fowl is a Yeerk. He has to be."

Rachel looked ready to head into battle. "That makes sense. He wants the park to be empty so Visser Three can move his troops in and take us without people watching."

"And if they have someone as smart as Fowl, then they've already figured out that we're not Andalite bandits," said Marco. "And that means they're going to come after our families."

"Hold on, hold on," said Jake, holding his hands up around his shoulders. "This is all just speculation. We don't know anything yet. There's no proof that this Fowl guy is a Yeerk. But, since we can't rule it out either, let's be extra careful."

Everyone seemed to agree to that. Marco still looked suspicious, but he agreed as well. After that, we didn't really have anything to talk about, so we all went home and attacked the surprising amount of homework that piled up after our recent adventures as Animorphs. I still couldn't keep what Marco said out of my head, though. What if the brilliant Artemis Fowl was a Controller? Would that make this war impossible to win?


	4. Chapter 4

"You do realize that if we're down here at the beach because of that news story, some Controllers are probably down here, too?" Marco asked for about the tenth time.

"Yes, Marco," Jake said patiently. "But maybe Cassie and Tobias can get some feeling from being down here, closer to the sea."

"So let me get this straight - we are now making decisions based on Tobias and Cassie's dreams, right?" Marco said. "And yet my dreams are totally ignored. The fact that I once dreamed about staying home and watching TV in total safety, that means nothing, right?"

"Right," Jake said flatly.

We were at the beach. The same beach where the guy on the news had found what we now believed was a piece of an Andalite ship. It was night, with a sliver of moon that painted ripples of silver across the black water. A salt breeze blew off the water, making me feel peaceful and yet a little overwhelmed, intimidated, the way the ocean always makes me feel.

There is nothing as big as the ocean. It's like this entirely different planet, full of strange plants and fantastic animals. Valleys and mountains and caves and broad, flat plains, all hidden from our sight.

All I could see was the surface. All I could feel was the barest edge of the ocean, rushing over my toes as each wave crashed ashore.

But I could sense it out there. I could sense how vast it was, and how tiny I was. "How about my dream of living long enough to get a driver's license?"

Jake gave Marco an exasperated look. "Marco, you can turn into a bird and fly. You could do it right now. Why would you care about driving a car a few years from now?"

"The babes," Marco said instantly. "Duh. You can't pick up girls when you're a bird." He glanced overhead, where we could see just the hint of dark wings against the canopy of stars. "No offense, Tobias. The wings are great, but I'm thinking of something bright red with about four hundred horsepower."

Marco's cooperative mood hadn't lasted long. I knew it wouldn't. Marco is never happy unless he's complaining about something; Just like Rachel is never happy unless she has something to fight against. And Tobias is never happy, period. He thinks if he's ever happy, someone will just come along and take his happiness away.

"So, Cassie?" Rachel said. "Do you feel any thing?"

"Well, I feel a little embarrassed," I admitted. "And a little foolish."

"Maybe we could try calling the Psychic Friends," Marco suggested. "Hi, is this Psychic Friends? I've been dreaming about aliens lately - "

"Why Cassie and Tobias?" Rachel wondered aloud, ignoring Marco. "Why would they get these images so clearly and the rest of us barely felt anything?"

Jake shook his head. "I don't know. I mean, okay, say you're an Andalite. And you want to call for help. Who do you want to come and rescue you? Other Andalites, obviously."

"Tobias isn't an Andalite, and neither am I," I pointed out.

"I know," Jake said. "But maybe this communication, whatever it is, is tied into the ability to morph. You know, like morphing ability makes you able to 'hear' it. That way, only Andalites would be able to receive the call for help."

"Which still doesn't explain why Tobias and I _"

"Maybe it does," Marco interrupted, serious again. "Look, Tobias is permanently in morph. And Cassie, you're the one who has the most talent for morphing." Then he flashed white teeth in the dark. "Besides, you know you like animals more than humans, so it's like you're halfway into morph, anyway."

Suddenly a dark shape swooped low over our heads. /Lights!/ Tobias said. /Up ahead on the beach. There's a bunch of people moving in a line with flashlights, like they're searching for something. You can't see them yet because they're hidden by that dune. But they'll be here in a couple of minutes./

"Who are they?" Jake demanded.

/l can't tell,/ Tobias said. /My eyes may be great during the day, but at night I don't see any better than you do. I'm a hawk, not an owl. Fortunately, I still hear pretty well. You guys hide in the dunes. I'll be right back./

With that he was gone. "Come on," Jake said. "He's right. Let's hide in the dunes."

We crouched down in a pocket between two dunes. I lay flat on my belly in the cold sand and peered through the tall sea grass, focusing on the bright line of the surf.

Tobias was back a few minutes later.

/It's them,/ he said. He came to rest on a piece of driftwood. /It's a group from The Sharing. Chapman is with them./ He turned his head to look at Jake. /Tom is with them, too./

The Sharing is a front organization for the Yeerks. Supposedly it's this group for all ages, like Girl Scouts or whatever. In reality it's a way for the Controllers to try and recruit new voluntary hosts. As impossible as it may seem, some humans actually decide to become hosts for the Yeerks. The Yeerks like it that way. It's easier for them to have a voluntary host instead of a host that resists their control.

The Sharing is very subtle, of course. People are brought along very slowly, over time. New members have no idea what it's all about at first. They think it's just fun and games.

I don't know when they tell the members what's really happening. By then I guess it's too late. They either become hosts voluntarily, or, like Jake's brother Tom, they are taken, anyway.

"Tom is with them?" Jake asked.

/I'm pretty sure,/ Tobias said. /Some of the senior members - Chapman and Tom - are following behind the others. I could hear some of what they were saying. They're very worried about that fragment of Andalite ship./

"So it is Andalite?" Rachel asked, excited.

/l guess so,/ Tobias said. /l heard something else, too./ The way he hesitated made me tense up. "What?"

/Something about Visser Three having visions. That's what they said. Visions. I guess the visions made the Visser cranky. He was on the mother ship at the time and decided to shove a Hork-Bajir out of an airlock because he broke the Visser's concentration./

"It's because of Visser Three's Andalite body," Marco said.

"That's the connection. These dreams or visions or whatever they are must be some kind of communication that's only supposed to be heard by Andalites."

Suddenly I saw the line of flashlights swing into view. There must have been twenty people strung across the beach, all looking down at the sand, moving forward slowly.

"They're searching for any other fragments," I whispered.

A part of the line stopped moving. I heard someone yelling. Others came running up, excited.

"What did they find?" Jake wondered.

"I don't. . ." Then, in a flash, it came to me. "Our footprints! Four sets of fresh footprints that suddenly turn off into the dunes!"

"Let's get out of here," Jake hissed. "Now!" Too late!

The flashlight beams raced across the rippling sand and up the side of the dune. In an instant a dozen flashlight beams focused on the notch where we crouched.

We slithered back, down and out of sight. Then we jumped up and ran. "We should morph!" Rachel gasped as we stumbled over the sinking sand.

"No!" Marco said. "Tracks. We would leave tracks that went from human to animal."

"Get them!" someone yelled. Chapman, I think. He's our assistant principal at school. I knew his voice from hearing him yell in the hallways.

Jerky, wild beams of light danced all around us. We ducked and ran as fast as we could. But running across the sand was like running through quicksand.

Jake was gasping out whispered instructions. "Double around ... if they follow us deeper into ... the dunes ... we can double around . . . get to the water. . . then morph ..."

"There! There! I see them!"

A beam of light swept over me. I could see my shadow, long and twisted, projected on the sand. I dodged left, out of the light. Just in time.

BAM! BAM! Gunfire! Someone was shooting at me.


	5. Chapter 5

It seemed totally crazy.

I mean, I've been in one-on-one combat to the death with seven-foot-tall Hork-Bajir warriors, and I've been shot at by Dracon beams that sort of disintegrate you slowly. But I'd never been shot at with plain old everyday guns.

It seemed nuts after all we'd been through.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Phit! I heard something hit the sand just inches from my foot.

"Aaaahhh!" I cried in surprise.

This was real. Real! This was really happening.

A rough hand grabbed me and dragged me forward. Jake. I had frozen when I'd heard the bullet so close.

/They're all in the dunes!/ Tobias cried. /Now's the time./

"Come on!" Jake snapped. He half dragged me up the side of the nearest dune, but by then I was moving fine all on my own. I was scurrying up the side of that hill, snatching at handholds of scrub grass, pistoning my feet into the sand.

Over the top. We slid and rolled and ran down the far side.

We were back on the beach. I stole a quick glance to the right. No lights on the beach. They were all in the dunes. Looking for us.

"Head to the water," Jake said. "Morph to fish."

"Jake," I panted. "Trout. . . they're freshwater fish . . . this is saltwater."

"You have a better idea?" he asked.

BAM! BAM!

"No," I said. We splashed into the boiling surf. As I ran I pictured the fish. I remembered being the fish. I focused as much as anyone can focus with a dozen or so Controllers chasing her and shooting.

My feet went out from under me. They had shriveled and begun to disappear. I hit the water and got a mouthful of salty foam.

I tried to keep my head above water, but my arms were rapidly disappearing. The waves were high around me as I became smaller and smaller. My clothing billowed.

The people from The Sharing, the Controllers, raced to the water's edge. I could see their lights, weirdly distorted as my eyes went from the air- adapted eyes of a human to the eyes of a fish.

With what was left of my ears I heard, "The tracks lead right to the water."

Tom's voice. Then Chapman's. "I don't see them. They can't swim far. The current is too strong. Fan out up and down the beach."

"Do you think these are the Andalite-" Tom's voice stopped and there was a dull thud. What made that sound? I got my answer a second later.

"Tom!" Chapman's voice rang out, more panicky than before. "We're under attack! Tom is-" Chapman's voice stopped just like Tom's, and there was a familiar thud a moment later.

The other controllers near Tom and Chapman called out in terror and were silenced just like the others. I had stopped my morph without realizing it, and hurriedly tried to resume it before the mystery attackers showed up to collect their prizes.

/Tom!/ Jake called out. /What's going on? What happened to Tom?/ There was a note of panic creeping into his normally calm voice.

/I don't know!/ I said. /Jake, we can't go back! We don't know who did that, and whoever they are, they knew the Yeerks would come there!/

/So what?/ Rachel growled. /Let's give them a big bear hug./

/Shh!/ I whispered. /They're walking up now!/

Two sets of footsteps plodded across the sand. They stopped at Tom. Then one of them spoke.

"The four kids ran off into the ocean," said one of the people, his voice impossibly deep, with a certain dangerous quality that made even Rachel second-guess her plan of attack. "Where do you think they are?"

"Well, let's observe for a moment," said the second voice, higher pitched, but somehow even more dangerous than the first. If I had had skin at that point, goose bumps would have erupted over every part of me. "There is an alarmingly large mass of clothes near the shore and no sounds of swimming to go along with them. Given the nature of the people at which these controllers were shooting, I would say that they are somewhere out in the ocean." He paused for a second, then spoke in a louder voice. "If any Andalite bandits-" He let out a cold chuckle, "want to come and chat, I would be more than happy to do so."

/Rachel and Marco, swim out of sight. Then get back onto the beach and go battle morphs,/ Jake said quickly. /Cassie and I are going to meet these guys./

/What?/ Marco yelled. /Jake, you can't be serious. They could kill you just like they did Tom./

/You heard how he laughed after he said Andalite bandits, and how easily he knew we were here,/ Jake said. /Besides,/ he said with iron in his voice, /I'm not going down without a fight./

Sometimes, you could forget that Rachel and Jake were cousins, but at that moment, I could hardly tell them apart.

/Okay,/ said Marco, still sounding doubtful. /But wait until we're ready./

All of us were suffering because of the breathing problem. Each new breath felt like inhaling fire through our freshwater gills. I was very grateful when Marco sounded the all clear.

Jake and I demorphed as quick as we possibly could, and climbed out of the water shivering against the suddenly frigid air. I looked around quickly for Tom and the other controllers. They were all sitting on the sand with their hands tied behind their backs. There was what looked like a hawk beside them. I didn't know whether they were sleeping or dead. Jake looked livid. We both turned to glare at the two newcomers.

They were an odd pair to be sure. One of them was a giant of a man, probably standing at more than 6'5", and he had a look in his eye that seemed to say, "Try anything funny and you'll be dead." In the past, I would have wilted under a gaze like that, but when you've faced certain death and came out alive, I guess you develop a little bit more of a backbone.

The other was shorter, though still taller than both of us. He was slender and pale, with raven hair. When he caught my eye, he let out a smile that managed to give me even more goose bumps than I already had.

"They're not dead, Jake," said the shorter one. "Though I'm afraid I will have to take them with me."

"You're not taking anyone," said Jake quickly. The pale one chuckled again, and again I sensed a certain power about him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew it from somewhere.

"I assure you, they will be much safer with me than with their current, shall we say, _employer_," the pale one said, a dark expression clouding his face on the last word.

"How do you know our names?" I asked, feeling very much on the defensive.

The pale one chuckled again. "Oh Cassie, I know everything important about you. After all, you are an intriguing bunch of young people," he said almost playfully.

"What could you possibly know about us?" Jake challenged.

The pale one regarded him with something close to curiosity. "Interesting," he mused. "Well, Jake Berenson, I know about you, your cousin Rachel, your friend Marco Jimenez, Cassie here, and last but not least, your eye in the sky Tobias Fangor," he finished with a slightly cocky expression. "And I know that right now, Rachel and Marco are a grizzly bear and a gorilla, respectively," He said. "I don't blame you, it was the perfect tactical move."

"So you know who we are," Jake said. "It's obvious you're not Controllers, or we'd all have slugs by now." The pale one nodded in agreement. "You're not Andalites, are you?"

"Hardly," said the giant in a deep, powerful voice. "Although he's smart enough to be one." For the first time, the giant cracked a smile as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the pale one. The pale one also smiled.

"So what do you want from us?" Jake asked, still slightly on edge. The pale one smiled again, although this time it was warmer.

"On the contrary, I am here to give you something," he said. "I must have forgotten to introduce myself. I'm so sorry please forgive my rudeness," he extended his hand toward me. "This is my bodyguard Butler, and I am Artemis Fowl the Second."


	6. Chapter 6

Marco snorted. "You have a bodyguard named Butler?" he laughed. "What's next, a butler named Bodyguard?" He laughed at his own joke for a few seconds before looking around and seeing that all of our faces were completely blank.

"Yes…" Artemis said, "Well, passing over your attempts at humor, we have serious matters to discuss."

"Everyone's a critic," Marco muttered.

Jake stepped forward. "We have a lot to talk about, Mr. Fowl. Why did you attack Tobias?"

"I panicked when I saw a red-tailed hawk out in the night," Artemis confessed. "They normally head for their roosts the minute the sun goes down. I thought it could have been the one they call 'Visser Three'."

"And what do you plan on doing with my brother?" asked Jake, showing a hint of fear for the first time.

"He and the others will be interrogated for as long as I can risk without being discovered," Artemis explained. "Then I will erase their memories of the event and release them back to the Visser."  
"No," Jake said fiercely.

"This is the way it has to be, Jake," Artemis informed him.

"No, there has to be another way," Jake said.

"It's the easiest way, man," Marco chimed in with a dark look on his face. "Even if we hold him for long enough to starve the slug out of him, he still won't be safe. Tom's pretty high-ranking, and you know Visser Three wouldn't stop until Tom was captured again," Marco stopped, seeing the look on Jake's face. "On the other hand," Marco started again, "Visser Three won't be happy once they turn up again. We all know what he does to subordinates he doesn't like." We all shivered. "We need to think of something else."

Artemis regarded Marco with a curious expression. "More than meets the eye indeed," He muttered just loud enough for me to hear. "I think Tom will be safe from the Visser's wrath," He announced to the group.

"No chance," growled Rachel. "The Visser's already steamed because of those visions. If you send him back, he's as good as dead."

"But you're rich!" I spoke up at last. Everyone turned to look at me.

Artemis considered me, and then said, "Yes."

"Then you can make him disappear! You can get him out of the country or something! If you can make animals go extinct, you can take care of one person for sure!" I couldn't keep in my anger anymore. Here was the guy that was responsible for killing off a rare species of lemur and everyone was just ok with it!

Jake looked totally lost. "Cassie, what are you talking about?"

Before I could say anything, Artemis jumped in. "The lemur is fine. Trust me-" he saw I was about to object again, "it's a very long and complicated story, and this beach is not the place to tell it. If you require evidence, I shall bring it tomorrow. That is to say, the evidence. Not the lemur."

"Yeah, you better," I fumed. Jake looked questioningly at me, but I shot him a look that said, "We'll talk about this later."

"She does have a point, Master Artemis," the giant bodyguard spoke again. "We could shelter them quite easily. And we will get much more reliable information from the hosts than the Yeerks."

Artemis paused, thinking. Then he opened his mouth, "Very well. I'll arrange for them to leave the country."

Jake's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "So does that mean Tom goes," he paused, almost like he was afraid to say it, "…free?"

Artemis nodded. Jake breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like he had been holding that breath for a very long time. Rachel hugged me, and Marco gave Jake a high-five. Artemis waited for all of us to stop celebrating, and then cleared his throat.

"We still have much to discuss, in case you've forgotten," he proclaimed. "These Yeerks were searching for something, some piece of debris from the battle that took place not too long ago. We need to find out-"

"It's an Andalite ship," I interrupted him. "We were here to check it out too."

"An Andalite ship?" Artemis asked, startled. "How do you know this?"

"I…dreamed it," I mumbled, embarrassed. I could see his excitement fade. "Tobias saw it too," I added quickly, trying not to seem crazy. This got his attention, and he stepped closer to me with a look like someone who just found out that I held some secret key to all the universe's knowledge.

"Fascinating!" he exclaimed. "But why would it contact you?" he pondered.

"We think it's becau-" Marco started.

"Quiet, Master Artemis is thinking," Butler snapped, and a silence fell at once. After a few minutes, Artemis turned to Jake.

"It must target any Andalite technology, so that's why the Yeerks were here, and Tobias is still in morph. Oh my god, we need to wake him up, how long has he been in morph?" Artemis finished in a panicked voice. We all looked at each other, and I knew we were all thinking about how best to tell him. It was Rachel that spoke first.

"Tobias…Tobias doesn't need to come out of morph anymore," she explained sadly. "He got stuck as a hawk." Artemis looked slightly abashed.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to Rachel. "That explains Tobias' connection, but it doesn't explain Cassie's link," he turned to look at me.

"Cassie's the best at morphing," explained Marco. "And it's not the ship that's sending out a distress call. It's an Andalite."

"Oh," Artemis said. "In that case, we have to find the ship at once. One Andalite host is bad enough, having two would be disastrous."

"We call them Controllers, not hosts," Jake corrected. At Artemis' questioning look, Jake elaborated, "It's what Elfangor, the Andalite who gave us the morphing power called them. Calling them hosts makes them seem less human, I guess."

"Many of them aren't, but I see your point," Artemis consented. "We will discuss this further at The Gardens. Farewell, everyone," Artemis said, and left with the Controllers in tow. We just sat on the beach for a while, none of us saying anything. Then, Marco spoke.

"That guy gives me the creeps. I got major goose bumps every time he smiled." We all laughed, much to Marco's exasperation. "I wasn't even making a joke that time!"

"You should try that more often," Rachel teased, punching Marco in the arm.

We had to go home soon. I volunteered to stay with Tobias until he woke up. My parents would be the easiest to fool. I could always just say that I heard something in the barn. I still wasn't sure about Artemis Fowl II. I still didn't trust him, but he said he would bring proof. I would just have to wait and see.


	7. Chapter 7

The next couple of days we didn't get together, except for passing each other in the hallways at school. We do have lives beyond being Animorphs, after all.

Rachel was busy with her gymnastics class. Plus she got to go to this ceremony where her mom received some award for being Lawyer of the Year. (And since this is Rachel we're talking about, going to an awards dinner meant major shopping for new everything.)

Jake had totally blown a test because he hadn't studied, so he had to do a paper as makeup work. And I was busy helping my dad out in the barn with the golden eagle who had almost been electrocuted. He was at a difficult stage of his recovery.

Tobias dropped by one evening and acted kind of snippy about me trying to save a golden eagle. Golden eagles and hawks don't get along. Probably because golden eagles are known to kill and eat hawks.

It was a couple of days later that Jake rode his bike over to my house. I didn't expect him, so I was dressed like even more of a slob than usual. Plus I reeked of various horrible things because I was mucking out the stables and cleaning the birdcages.

Typical guy. He had the totally bad timing to show up when I looked like Ms. Manure.

"Hey, Cassie," he said in his usual casual way, like nothing was going on.

"Hi, Jake. Did you come by to help me shovel manure?"

He grinned. He has a great smile. It appears kind of slowly, like it doesn't quite belong on his serious face. "I don't know. Did I?"

"Yes, you did," I told him. I handed him a shovel. "If I have to smell, so do you."

We worked a little bit, with no sound but the steel shovel blades scraping the concrete. I knew he had something to tell me. I can always tell. But I figured I'd let him get around to it whenever he was ready.

"So," he said at last.

"So?" I echoed.

"Look, um, I guess everyone is kind of waiting to see what you decide to do."

This surprised me. I stopped shoveling. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're waiting to see what you decide to do about this dream of yours."

I shrugged. "I don't know. Besides, it's not just my dream. Tobias has it, too. And all of you guys felt it a little, at least."

"Yeah, but Tobias figures he isn't going to be much help when ... I mean, if we decide to do something. We're talking water, and Tobias can't morph. As for the rest of us, I don't know. Rachel and Marco were talking about whether it might have just been something they imagined, you know? Because you made it seem so real and all."

"What do you think, Jake?"

Jake stopped working and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked straight into my eyes. "Cassie, if you tell me it's real, it's real. I think you and Tobias are right. But Marco is having second thoughts." He raised one eyebrow, as if to say "You know Marco."

I felt a queasy, sick feeling. "You mean, I'm supposed to make some kind of a decision? Like I'm supposed to say what we do?"

"Cassie, you're the one with the dream. Only you can decide if it's real, and if it's real enough for us to try and do something about it."

"I don't know if it's real," I said. What was he asking me to do? Every time we had tried to get into it with the Yeerks, we had ended up barely escaping with our lives. Just two days had passed since I'd heard bullets whizzing past me.

Jake waited until I met his gaze again. "Cassie, you know we all trust your instincts. You're the best at understanding animals. You're the best morpher. You know everyone in the group respects you."

I made a face. "Give me a break."

"If you think we should pursue this, you know Rachel will be right behind you. Me, too."

"And Marco?"

Jake grinned again. "Marco won't be right behind you. He'll be several feet back."

We both laughed.

"I don't know, Jake. It's a dream. It's like a vision or something. How do I know if it's real?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, Cassie. I guess you just have to take your best shot and hope you're right."

I cringed at that. I'm not Rachel. I'm not a risk-taker. "Can't you decide for me?" I asked, joking.

He nodded solemnly. "If you want me to, sure."

"And then if it's a disaster, it will all be on your head," I said. "You'll be the one who feels bad. You'll be the one to blame." I reached out and touched his cheek. "That's incredibly sweet of you. But you're right. I guess it's my decision this time."

I sighed and looked around at the barn. It smelled pretty bad, and sometimes it was a nuthouse of yammering birds and howling wolves and whinnying horses, all needing care, and all scared of the care we gave them. But it was the place I felt most at home in the whole world.

Out through the door of the barn, the fields of corn and open meadow stretched off into the distance, till they pressed up against the dark trees of the forest.

"I know this is crazy," I said, "but the ocean scares me a little. I understand the land. I understand soil and things that grow out of it." I laughed. "I guess I'm just an old farm girl. You know this farm has been in my family since the Civil War?"

Jake winked. "Do I know that? Puh-leeze. I had Thanksgiving with your family last year, you may remember. Your great-grandmother gave me the complete history."

"Going all the way back to when dinosaurs ruled the earth," I said. "Grammy does tend to go on about our history, doesn't she?"

He looked serious again, almost hard. "It's your call, Cassie. It will be really dangerous and we probably won't do much good. I mean, it's a big ocean out there. But it's your decision."

"Yep," I agreed. I shook my head slowly, sadly. "I believe these dreams are real. I believe there's an Andalite out there, somewhere . . . somehow . . . trapped. Calling for help."

"Good enough," he said. "Now. How do we get out there?"

I frowned, thinking of the possibilities. "Some kind of fish? It would have to be some thing fast. Something that isn't prey. You know, not some fish that's going to get snapped up by a hungry tuna or whatever."

Jake nodded. "And it has to be something we can acquire. Which means, probably, something at The Gardens."

"They have sea lions. And dolphins. But we can't morph them, can we?"

"Why not?"

"I ... I don't know. It's just that, I mean, dolphins? They're highly intelligent. It seems kind of, I don't know, kind of wrong."

"Well, you decide," he said, leaning his shovel against a wall. "I have to go. I can't blow another test, and I have to study."

He climbed back on his bike.

"You're just saying that to get out of shoveling manure," I said.

"Cassie," he said, "I would rather shovel manure with you than do homework without you, any day."

I think it was a compliment. Sort of.

He rode off, leaving me much less at ease than I had been before he'd come.

* * *

**I'm sorry if my updates are really infrequent. I'll try to do better. Thank you for all the reviews, though guys. If you want me to review something of yours, message me.**


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